You are here

State edu. chief visits Central

Tennessee’s highest ranking education official told Maury County teachers he expects them to contribute to the state’s goal of becoming the fastest-improving system in the nation over the next year.

In a visit on Friday to Columbia Central High School as part of his “10,000 Teacher Tour,” Tennessee Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman said the state currently ranks 46th in fourth grade mathematics scores and 41st in reading scores. But rather than set a goal of ranking No. 1 for these scores, the commissioner said he’s instead set a more attainable goal of being No. 1 in improving them.

While Tennessee holds a less than competitive place on the national scale, he said the rank of U.S. students on a global scale is also starting to drop, a fact which poses a potential problem to the economic recovery.

“This is a problem for a bunch of reasons, but when you think about the economic future of the state, the economic opportunities for our kids, it’s a very big balance that we have to grapple with,” Huffman said. “We can’t grow because we’re having trouble finding enough people to hire who have the skills that we need.”

He said the greatest need in terms of skills in the Tennessee workforce were identified as those in mathematics and science, as well as a job’s “soft skills” — critical thinking and problem solving. One of the responses the state education department has come up with is to increase the rigor in classroom lessons.

That, in addition to providing students with a clearer expectation of what is expected of them and creating a culture of positivity, should ensure the competitiveness of Tennessee students, Huffman said.

But his tour wasn’t just about conveying his own knowledge to teachers, and Huffman got an earful from educators in the Maury County school system.

CHS social studies teacher Mark Orman said if the U.S. wanted to stay in step with other countries, it might do well to consider its competitors’ teaching methods. He said a foreign exchange student, who attended CHS from Norway last year, had only taken one standardized test in her entire life.

In addition, he said in her country, schools cater to a student’s intended life after high school, whether it be college or the workforce — rather than force all students to travel similar educational paths.

A senior English teacher complained that forcing all students to take difficult courses in math and science has resulted in a number of students dropping out of high school before they reach graduation. It is not realistic to assume all students will need courses that advanced, she said.

Still, Huffman said that beyond the reasons for worry or complaint, the state does continue to make strides in a number of areas. More than half of the state’s teachers advanced their students’ learning beyond what was expected, and some achievement gaps between student subgroups are closing.

“That’s a pretty good barometer. I think that the work people are doing in classrooms is really paying off across the state,” he said. “It will make a meaningful difference in the lives of our kids. So, I feel really good about the progress. I also know from looking at what our standings are, and what our numbers are, we have to keep it up.”

Rules for posting comments

Comments posted below are from readers. In no way do they represent the view of Stephens Media LLC or this newspaper. This is a public forum.

Comments may be monitored for inappropriate content but the newspaper is under no obligation to do so. Comment posters are solely responsible under the Communications Decency Act for comments posted on this Web site. Stephens Media LLC is not liable for messages from third parties.

IP and email addresses of persons who post are not treated as confidential records and will be disclosed in response to valid legal process.

Do not post:

Potentially libelous statements or damaging innuendo.

Obscene, explicit, or racist language.

Copyrighted materials of any sort without the express permission of the copyright holder.

Personal attacks, insults or threats.

The use of another person's real name to disguise your identity.

Comments unrelated to the story.

If you believe that a commenter has not followed these guidelines, please click the FLAG icon below the comment.